There has long existed a need for cabinetry that could be rapidly and inexpensively installed in multi-retail establishments, such as fast food restaurants, convenience stores, gas stations, etc. This need has previously been met, to a limited degree, by modular furniture components such as cabinets, drawer banks, shelving and the like, etc. This modular furniture generally comprises independent, pre-formed units of the desired furniture type. These units are generally shipped to the installation site and fastened to each other or to existing structures, such as walls and floors, to form the desired modular system. These pre-formed, modular units typically are available in 1, 2 or 3 foot wide units.
Therefore, the degree of adjustability and flexibility of such modular furniture systems is limited to the size of the units available, and no smaller or intermediate incremental adjustments are generally possible. Furthermore, existing modular furniture systems are difficult to adjust at the site of installation if the space into which the modular units must fit is slightly less or slightly greater than the combined size of the available modular units. In the event that such a situation arises as a result of a measuring error or a change in the installation site, a custom-made cabinet unit has to be constructed to accommodate the off-sized space to be filled.
A further disadvantage of currently available modular cabinet units is that they must be shipped as a unit from the site of manufacture to the site of installation. This can result in high shipping costs as the size of a premanufactured modular unit is much larger than the size of its components parts. This cost disadvantage can be prohibitive when the site of manufacture and the site of installation are distant.
Once a system of modular cabinetry units is installed at a site, the appearance of the units cannot later be altered in a significant manner. Thus, if a business establishment such as those mentioned above changes hands and/or changes the nature of the service to be provided by the cabinet system, a new modular cabinet system must generally be purchased and the existing cabinet system removed and discarded. Thus, this inability of presently known modular furniture systems to be post-adapted to alter their appearance or function is a further disadvantage of modular furniture systems.